Stormreach Chronicle, Sar, Rhaan 7 999 YK

SC05: Mystery of the Standing Stones

Have you heard of the Circle of Visions? Well if you’ve lived in the City of Storms as long as I have you’re bound to have heard of them. Maybe you even spents days camping out by one of the twelve standing stones outside the city hoping to catch an image of one of the fascinating visions. Well this reporter is proud to announce that he’s finally seen one up-close and personal, and let me tell you, it was a real treat!

As a gnome, I’m a sucker for illusion magic, but this one really takes the cake. Every month a different illusory tale appears, at random it seems, in one of the twelve standing stones that ring the outside of the city; and before you get your hopes up of catching sight of one these delightful illusions, I should warn you that the date seems random too. So even if you were to make camp all month at one of the locations, you’ve only got a 1 in 12 chance of seeing one. That’s a lot of camping. But a little bird once told me, quite literally, that there is a circle of druids who actually do this every month, sending one of their number to each location in order to chronicle the events. Of course those druids can shapeshift into all sorts of animals so you’d never know which is which. The story might not even be true. It came from a bird after all! But I digress.

Back to my point. I actually saw one! That’s right, your very own humble reporter, Merrimack Stargazer, has seen one of these illusions, and I’ve got all the details for you. The legend goes that every month a different image appears. Sometimes the image is lovely, and sometimes a long-dead giant appears, whose name and history are no longer known. Other times these illusions are disturbing, showing images that some of the more superstitious believe to be forewarnings or showing places deep in Xen’drik’s jungles that are believed to have been outposts of the giants or their enemies. Well I caught sight of something even more magnificent. It was a dragon, a proud, majestic, gold dragon! And here’s where the story gets really interesting. The dragon told me, Merrimack Stargazer, that the month of Rhaan would be a very special month. He didn’t say why, and when I asked the figment for more details, he simply smiled. At least, I think it was a smile. This dragon was enormous. At least twenty gnomes in height, so when he lifted his head high and looked down on me it was actually kind of hard to make out details on his expression. But what he said certainly seemed meant for me. Imagine that! A humble gnome like myself being chosen to relay this very important message to everyone in the world!

There’s another legend that says catching sight of a gold dragon is good luck. So thank Olladra for that one! I think I’ll go looking for a gambling house tonight.